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February 24, 2013

Bengaluru: The twin blasts in Hyde­rabad that claimed the lives of 16 people and injured over 100 others was reportedly carried out by the Indian Mujahideen leader Mohammed Zarar Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal with some alleged help from two or three local people, said a top intelligence officer.

"They have used ammonium nitrate and Pent­a­erythritol Tetrani­trate (PETN) as explosives with nuts, bolts and iron nails, which were strapped to two bicycles," he added. Thou­gh there is no official confi­rmation on the device used to trigger the explosives, it is reliably learnt that they may have been timed using a watch and were not remotely controlled. "It seems that they were well timed and not remotely controlled," added the officer.

The presence of PETN – a lethal explosive second to RDX and used primarily by the military – has foxed the police and Intelligence agencies. "PETN was initially the signature explosive of the Bangladeshi militants Hark­at-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), but later the IM modules have also used it in recent blasts in the country," said the officer.

Yasin is said to be hiding in South India under a new alias and is the main man behind recruiting locals for terrorist attacks.

Yasin Bhatkal was let off after arrest in 2008

Kolkata: Yasin Bhatkal, one of the co-founders of the banned Indian Mujahideen, was arrested by Kolkata Police in 2008 in a fake currency case, but was let off.

West Bengal Police on Friday said this is nothing new. "This is nothing new. The whole world knows it," Joint Commissioner of Police, STF, Rajib Mishra said on Friday when asked whether Bhatkal, a suspect in the Hyderabad serial blasts, was arrested in a fake currency case here in 2008

The conspiracy to target Dilsukhnagar was revealed by terror suspects who were arrested by Delhi police in October 2012. Dilsukhnagar was one among five to six places that were identified, by the terror suspects, for planting bombs.

Indian Mujahideen’s key operative, Riyaz Bhatkal, is now emerging as the main conspirator for the blasts.

The accused, Syed Maqbool alias Zuber, a resident of Dharmabad in Nanded, revealed to Delhi police and a team of Counter Intelligence, that they conducted reconnaissance of Dilsukhnagar and Abids in Hyderabad. In 2012, Maqbool helped one Imran in doing a recce of Dilsukhnagar, Begum Bazaar and Abids on Bhatkal’s instructions.

The police found that for each operation, four separate cells operated. A top source of the home department said, “A recce will be conducted by one group. Another group plans it. Bomb-making is done by a third group. For execution, there will be a separate group. Maqbool was part of the recce group.”

Maqbool was arrested on October 23, 2012. AP police went to Delhi in November and grilled him. NIA experts say the modes operandi looks like the 2011 Mumbai blasts. Meanwhile, police is also checking if Obaidur Rehman and others of LeT are involved.

Hyderabad: Since Thursday's evening twin bomb blasts in Dilsukhnagar, in which at least 17 people were killed and more than 100 people injured, this east part area of the Hyderabad with a population of about 2 million people and number of shopping malls, hotels and restaurants, corporate schools and colleges is now in focus for its unique character of being “a city with in the city”.

On an average 10 lakh people use the public transport daily from the bus stand which was the main spot of the terrorist target as it is main hub for Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC).

The Diluskhnagar Bus Depot alone have a fleet of 1000 out of 3800 buses connecting to all areas of Hyderabad city and towns apart from the hundreds of state and private buses for the coastal districts of the Andhra Pradesh pass through from this spot.

In fact Dilsukhnagar, on the national Vijayawada highway was an agriculture land owned by one Dilsukh Ram Pershad who in early 60's divided his land in to plots and then plots in to new colonies. One of such colonies was named as Dilsukhnagar colony.

People from Andhra region of the state mostly government employees and businessmen who migrated to capital city of Hyderabad started buying properties and settling in Dilsukhnagar. Soon the locality became a favorite habitat. After it became a part of the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) in 1975 Dilsukhnagar start growing real fast with new layouts approved by the government.

At present the value of land here runs in between Rs 25000 to Rs 30000 per sq yard where as the commercial land is said to be between Rs 50000 to Rs 60000 per sq yard, depending on location and surroundings.

With the establishment of huge shopping malls, name brand clothing outlets like Levis, Wrangler, Gap, branded shoe stores Nike and Reebok, branches of national and International banks such as Citi Bank, reputed educational institutions and call centers of many multinational companies, Dilsukhnagar became major attraction for the people.

The area looks festive every evening with men, women and children floating and shopping. Traffic jams quite is common here specially when the cinema shows ends at two Movie Theaters Venkatramna and Konark on the main road

When major fruit market of the city in Jambagh moved to nearby Gaddiannaram area two decade ago the commercial and residential area of Dilsukhnagar even extended up to Kothapet and people from various areas of the city and other parts of the adjoining districts Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda and Medak start flocking here for their needs.

Once part of Hayatnagar mandal in Ranga Reddy district, Dilsukhnagar became part of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in 2007 and part of Cyberabad Police Commissionerate after an order from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

It used to be part of Malakpet Assembly constituency and Nalgonda parliamentary constituency until 2004 general elections but after the demarcation of political map of Andhra Pradesh it has became part of LB Nagar assembly and Malkajgiri parliamentary constituency and currently represented by Congress party's D. Sudhir Reddy and Union Minister of State S. Satyanarayana respectively.

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